Low-fare airline Swoop adds Nashville flights

Friday, February 18, 2022, Vol. 46, No. 7

Swoop, Canada’s leading ultra-low-fare airline, is expanding its presence in the United States by adding non-stop flights to five new destinations this summer: Nashville, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

With those additions, Swoop will serve 11 U.S. destinations from its three main Canadian bases in Toronto, Hamilton and Edmonton.

The airline will have four weekly flights between Nashville and Toronto beginning May 26 and two weekly flights between Nashville and Edmonton beginning June 19. Rates for both routes are $99 each way.

Safehold adds Prima at Paseo South Gulch

Safehold Inc., has provided a ground lease to capitalize the $128.4 million development of Prima at Paseo South Gulch, a Class A multifamily project in Nashville.

This is the fourth ground lease closed in the Nashville MSA.

“This is another successful example of Safehold’s dedication to providing the commercial real estate industry with access to more efficient and lower cost capital,” says Tim Doherty, head of investments. “We are pleased to welcome SomeraRoad as a new customer and appreciate the opportunity to capitalize their high-quality development project.”

Prima will be a 16-story property comprised of 278 apartments with 28,000 square feet of commercial space. Units will contain high quality finishes and amenities will include a pool, game room, roof club & lounge, fitness center and a business center. The property is situated within SomeraRoad’s larger Paseo South Gulch master plan, which, when complete, will include over 600 apartments and approximately 110,000 square feet of retail and creative office space.

Forbes picks Acceptance as best employer

Nashville-based Acceptance Insurance, a provider of auto insurance and related products, has been named to Forbes’ 2022 list of America’s Best Employers.

Acceptance employs over 1,300 team members serving more than 300 neighborhoods in 13 states nationwide.

The award is determined by an independent survey of 60,000 American workers across 25 different industries, indicating their willingness to recommend their own employers to family and friends.

Based on the results of the study, Acceptance Insurance ranks among the top 500 mid-sized U.S. employers receiving the most recommendations.

This year’s Forbes list winners competed in the hottest U.S. job market in recent history. Near pre-pandemic demand for workers is being met with limited supplies as more team members consider their options and opportunities.

A recent hiring survey found that insurance industry recruiting remains “extremely competitive” as more than half of all companies anticipate increasing staff levels in 2022.

Courage Collective launches Boundless

The Nashville-based Courage Collective, a diversity, equity and inclusion consultancy, has announced Boundless, a company and fellowship program designed to create access for underrepresented identity groups in marketing/advertising, consulting and technology.

Boundless was created as a way to connect dynamic talent who are often overlooked with meaningful career opportunities, while also solving an ongoing problem for organizations in their DEI efforts.

“Without fail, every single organization we have worked with through The Courage Collective is trying to figure out how to bring more people from underrepresented groups into their company,” says Daniel Oppong, founder of Boundless. “And while recruiting certainly isn’t a ‘fix all’ for the myriad DEI challenges many organizations face, increasing representation should certainly be a focal point.”

Boundless will partner with companies in the three industry verticals of marketing, consulting and technology – all of which, according to Oppong, have historically lacked diverse representation. Employers can use the Boundless platform to share jobs with Boundless’ talent network. They can also work directly with the Boundless team to identify candidates for open job or internship positions.

Oppong first piloted the program in 2021 with redpepper, a Nashville based creative agency, that also led the brand design process and has signed on as a program partner.

Tritium to open facility in Wilson County

Tritium officials announced the company will establish its U.S. manufacturing base in Lebanon.

Tritium DCFC Limited, a global leader in the electric vehicle charging industry, currently expects to create more than 500 new jobs over the next five years in Lebanon, more than doubling its existing workforce across operations in Australia, Europe, Asia and the U.S.

Located at 1420 Toshiba Drive, Tritium’s Tennessee site will serve as the company’s sole U.S. facility for manufacturing modular direct current fast chargers, including the company’s award-winning RTM and new PKM150 models.

The facility is expected to house up to six production lines, which will produce 10,000 DC fast charger units per year, with the potential to increase production to approximately 30,000 per year at peak capacity.

Production at Tritium’s Lebanon facility is targeted to begin in the third quarter of 2022 and will help the company expand its global impact to surpass the more than 3.6 million high-power charging sessions across the 41 countries where it currently has a presence.

Founded in Australia in 2001, Tritium designs and manufactures proprietary technology to create the world’s most advanced and reliable DC fast chargers for electric vehicles. Today, the company has more than 450 employees across its operations in Australia, Europe, Asia and the U.S.

Valkyrie unveils Bitcoin Miners ETF

Nashville-based Valkyrie Funds, an investment manager focused on the digital asset class, is launching the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF, an exchange-traded fund that aims to invest in public companies in the bitcoin mining industry.

Another aspect to Bitcoin mining is the opportunity for environmentally-conscious investors to take advantage of these companies increasingly using renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectric, especially those that relocated last year from China to the United States. Miners are increasingly looking to use green energy because it helps the environment, and also tends to be cheaper than electricity generated from fossil fuels.

This fund is the third in a family of ETFs planned to be offered by Valkyrie Funds designed to enable investors to participate in the digital asset space.

Change Healthcare honored by KLAS

Nashville’s Change Healthcare has been recognized by KLAS in the 2022 Best in KLAS awards.

The company’s Healthcare Consulting Services division was named Best in KLAS for Payer IT Consulting Services for the third time in four years.

Change Healthcare Consulting Services helps payers overcome technical challenges and optimize business performance in areas such as process and system modernization, government programs, population health, value-based care, health care consumerism, analytics and insights, and IT risk management.

The Best in KLAS 2022 Software and Services awards are based on feedback from more than 22,000 providers and payers over the last year and recognize America’s leading vendors for health care IT solutions, services and management consulting. The awards signify the commitment and partnership these top vendors provide the industry and reflect excellence in quality and customer service for IT solutions and services that help health care organizations achieve better outcomes.

Silicon Ranch to build large Georgia solar array

Nashville-based Silicon Ranch has been selected by Black & Veatch to build a sprawling, 125-megawatt solar array in Lee County in southwestern Georgia.

Once construction is completed later this year, the DeSoto I Solar Farm will be among the biggest solar installations in the Southeast.

Silicon Ranch, one of the nation’s largest independent solar power producers, developed and is funding the project and will own, operate and maintain it for the long-term, a disciplined approach the company takes with every project it develops.

“As renewable energy continues to progress in a world rapidly focusing on decarbonization, this effort further demonstrates how carbon footprints can be minimized without disrupting the surrounding ecosystem,” says Paul Skurdahl, Black & Veatch senior vice president of renewable solutions. “This project aligns with our proven record of innovative approaches to delivering clean, affordable energy.”

DeSoto I will integrate Silicon Ranch’s trademark Regenerative Energy land-management model, which co-locates solar energy production with regenerative agriculture practices.

Once construction is complete, Silicon Ranch will restore the land to a functioning grassland ecosystem while keeping the project in agricultural production through managed sheep grazing using regenerative land management practices.

Harrow releases first transparency report

Nashville’s Harrow Health, Inc., an ophthalmic-focused health care company, has announced its inaugural 2022 Corporate Transparency Report is now available on its website.

The report focuses on Harrow Health’s commitment to initiatives that it believes support its mission to make innovative, sight-saving medications more accessible and affordable.

“I am pleased to present our 2022 Corporate Transparency Report, which we believe demonstrates action we have taken to develop sustainable business practices and to positively impact local communities and the lives of our customers and employees,’’ says Mark L. Baum, chief executive officer of Harrow Health.

“Simply put, this is a report card of why each member of the Harrow family is proud to be a part of what we do each and every day. We have always placed the highest emphasis on innovation, quality and safety that produces medicines that solve real-world, unmet patient needs, personal and professional integrity and inclusivity that encourages a collaborative and mutually supportive culture, and a dedication for serving our customers in a way that adheres to the highest ethical standards.’’

Harrow Health owns and operates ImprimisRx, one of the nation’s leading ophthalmology-focused pharmaceutical businesses, and Visionology, a direct-to-consumer eye care subsidiary focused on chronic vision care.

Harrow Health also holds non-controlling equity positions in Eton Pharmaceuticals, Surface Ophthalmics and Melt Pharmaceuticals.